


You Can Put Your Bags Down

by silenth



Series: Time is what you make of it [3]
Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:41:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27550195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silenth/pseuds/silenth
Summary: Jasper and Alice arrive at the Cullen house in 1950. A story of homecoming and finding your place in a chosen family.
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale, Carlisle Cullen/Esme Cullen, Emmett Cullen/Rosalie Hale
Series: Time is what you make of it [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953487
Comments: 24
Kudos: 54





	1. Unclench your fists

It was an inauspicious day in September 1950 and they were racing home from a hunting expedition. Emmett stopped short as they approached their house and took a deep inhale. "Do you smell that?"

Carlisle and Edward slowed beside him and Edward searched the consciousnesses he could pick up inside the house. 

Esme - quiet and sweet as springtime. _"--should be back soon, I hope they aren't too shocked..."_

Rosalie - bright and fiery. _"Emmett will want to give them a chance..."_

And, yes, there. Two presences he had never felt before. One thought _at_ him, and his mouth dropped open in shock. _"Edward!"_ A squeal in his head. _"You're back!"_

Even as he heard it, a window on the second floor flew open and a young woman appeared, her face wreathed in smiles and her mind so full of joy that Edward couldn't help but smile in response. 

_"I've waited so long to finally meet you, and Emmett is even taller than I thought, and oh, and Carlisle, he's so handsome and so kind. I love it when people look as kind as they are, sometimes they don't and it seems so unfair..."_

"Carlisle! Edward and Emmett! Hello!" She leaned further out the window and a taller figure approached behind her and seemed to pull her back in. "I'm so happy you're home!" she called as she disappeared. All Edward could pick up of the other one was caution. He was focused on someone named Alice, so Edward knew that must be the chattering one's name.

"What on earth..." Emmett muttered, exchanging a look with Carlisle. 

As they came up to the door, Esme opened it and looked out. "We've met two new friends, darling," she called to Carlisle. "Their names--"

The young woman from the window darted past Esme and stood on the porch. "I'm Alice. I'm so, so excited to meet you! Edward, we've been staying in your room, but only because the house was so small, and you see, we needed some privacy, and besides you do have the best view so-- but we can find a bigger house - there's one on the other side of this forest, it's beautiful--"

"Alice, sweetheart," Esme interrupted, taking the woman's hand in her own. "Carlisle, Emmett, Edward, this is Alice. She and her mate showed up here two days ago."

Carlisle kissed Esme in greeting and then reached to shake Alice's hand. He was nonplussed when she threw her arms around him, and then did the same to Edward and Emmett. Even not knowing a single thing about her, Emmett grinned at her. "You're about the littlest one of us I've ever seen. I have a spare winter boot if you want to use it as a bed," he told her, and she laughed and punched his arm.

"Should we all go in and get acquainted?" Esme suggested. She linked her arm through Edward's and smiled at him. _Alice is lovely, and Jasper is very devoted to her,_ she thought. _Of course, I don't know how Rosalie is going to take this. You know how she feels about gifts. Alice is a bit different, though she is so, so sweet and so talented. And the longer I've known Jasper, the more I like him._

Edward could tell Esme was half in love with them already, but she had a soft spot for underdogs and lost souls.

"I assume you possess some sort of psychic ability, Alice," Carlisle said as they made their way to the living area and sat down. Alice stood in front of the fireplace, placing her feet together and folding her hands neatly at her waist. Edward heard her fleeting thought that she was glad she dressed especially lady-like this morning, to make a good impression. He ran his eyes over her figure - as Emmett pointed out in his friendly, blunt fashion, she was both slender and extremely short. Her dress was black with a full skirt and she also wore a cropped white jacket adorned with three tiny brass buttons. He supposed it was fashionable, as those things went. Alice certainly seemed to think it was.

"Yes, I do." Alice explained, briefly, her awakening as a vampire, her lack of memories, her search for Jasper, and their joined quest to find the Cullens. She said basically everything he heard her thinking, but he could sense she was skipping over Jasper's back story for a reason he couldn't ascertain and he wondered why. He glanced at Carlisle but couldn't tell if he had noticed the same thing or not. Carlisle usually made a point of listening with an open mind.

Edward focused on Jasper for a moment, picking him out easily because he was working on problems in an old geometry book that belonged to Rosalie. It was an easy way to deal with a mind-reader - work on problems so hard that you can't think of anything else. Rosalie had gotten through an advanced degree in biology that way, in the uneasy years before she found Emmett.

Rosalie herself appeared on the stairs halfway through Alice's rendition, and lounged against the wall for a moment, her long golden hair cascading over one shoulder. Emmett grinned at her wolfishly and Edward fought not to roll his eyes. Their homecomings were usually quite... enthusiastic and he didn't fancy spending another night in the woods to escape their lusty moanings ricocheting around his head. 

Almost overriding her pleasure at seeing Emmett again, Rosalie was angry at Alice. _She thinks she can waltz right in here and become a part of this family._ Rosalie purposely sauntered in front of Alice and sprawled on top of Emmett on the settee. Esme had finished reupholstering it earlier that year - it was a piece from the 18th century that she had found on their last trip to France, and it groaned under Rosalie and Emmett's combined weight. Esme winced. 

"And we've been looking for so long and it's so wonderful to finally meet all of you. In actual person, I mean," Alice finished, beaming at each of them in turn.

"That is a remarkable story," Carlisle said after a moment. He and Esme were looking at each other, exchanging silent communications with their eyes. "Does your mate share your desire to make your home with us?"

"Oh, Jasper! Of course. I explained everything," she called up the stairs. "Will you come down? I wanted to make the introductions. I convinced him you weren't going to harm me so--"

She watched over her shoulder, missing the way the family reacted as Jasper approached. There was something elementally dangerous about this creature, a threat level missing in Alice. He walked down the stairs very slowly, allowing his body to gradually came into view. His pants were black and his stark white shirt was buttoned up to his throat. Edward immediately got the impression that Alice had engineered their outfits to communicate they were a matched set. Neither would be accepted without the other. 

"This is my Jasper. Jasper Whitlock." She reached out her hands to him and he linked their fingers as he stood next to her. His posture was ramrod straight, his hair dark blonde, his face still as he presented himself for their inspection. Tiny Alice barely reached the middle of his chest and his broader frame nearly made two of her. Her hands were swallowed inside his. 

The more startling contrast was in their expressions. Alice's smile and infectious joy made her seem full of life; Jasper was so motionless he appeared to be a statue. Edward could sense that everyone was taken aback, himself included. He could tell from their minds that they loved each other deeply but he had never seen a more incongruous pairing. 

"Is it your wish to join our coven and adopt our lifestyle, Jasper?" Carlisle asked.

He turned his dark gold eyes to Carlisle, the intensity of his focus enough to make everyone's tensions rise. "It is Alice's wish that we join you. I have attempted to live as a vegetarian for the past two years. It is not my nature and my attempts have never been wholly successful. I would accept whatever consequences you would deem appropriate for any... failings on my part as long as they did not impact Alice's standing among your coven."

Alice tugged at his arm. When he turned his head to stare at her face, she mouthed something to him ( _Everything will be all right_ ) and Jasper's stoicism shattered into a wide grin. 

_To love her like that, he must have a beautiful heart,_ Edward heard Esme think and he sighed. If Esme had anything to say about it, Edward knew they would be staying.

Still - Jasper's entire face did change when he smiled at Alice, and this was the first time he could understand their connection. 

"All we ask is that you make a sincere effort, Jasper," Carlisle told him. "Everyone has failed at one point, save myself, and in my experience, there are no consequences worse than the ones an individual visits on himself when he or she is sincerely remorseful."

"Yes, sir," Jasper nodded. A shadow fell over his face and Edward heard the cries of hundreds-- no, thousands echoing in his mind. This was someone who had killed more people, more indiscriminately, than the rest of them put together, he realized abruptly. Jasper met his eyes and the young man's jaw hardened. Edward wondered how a warrior like this would fit in the peaceful utopic world Carlisle envisioned for them. It was hard enough keeping Emmett in line, and his natural good humor made him much easier to forgive.

"Wonderful," Esme said, clapping her hands. "It's all settled then. We'll have to find a bigger house, of course, but in the meantime you can stay in Edward's room and we'll put him in Carlisle's office. Please sit and be comfortable," she said, gesturing to the two chairs in front of them. 

Alice perched on the edge of her seat, still clinging to Jasper's hand. He sat further back and began taking the measure of each of them in turn. He was especially focused on Rosalie and Edward, likely seeing them as the biggest threats to himself and Alice.

"If you are interested in pursuing an education, Rosalie and Emmett are seniors in high school and Edward is a junior presently. There's a bit of a resemblance between Rose and Jasper - perhaps we could introduce you and Alice as her cousins come to stay with the family."

Jasper and Alice glanced at each other and a smug smile flitted around Alice's mouth. "It would be better if we were not presented as blood relations," Jasper said flatly.

Carlisle paused. "Yes, of course. Perhaps you could be Rosalie's cousin and Alice..."

"How do we know he would be able to control himself at school?" Rosalie erupted. She had been sitting in silence, stewing, and she simply couldn't take this anymore. _This little insolent girl and her glowering terror of a mate had no place in their family._ "If he cannot, we all have to help cover it up, and if it's uncovered, we would have to move again, years ahead of schedule!"

"Jasper will be fine as long as I can stay with him," Alice said confidently. "I have seen it. The only worry I have is... well, the school here is so backwards with some of their ideas." She threw out her hand in exasperation and rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you know what I mean. I don't know that they will let us take the same schedule."

"They won't," Edward interjected. "Girls have to take home economics. The boys use that period for animal husbandry, if they are focusing on agricultural studies, or for motor vehicle repair." 

"Me and Edward are both in motor vehicle repair," Emmett added. "My Rose got a special exemption."

"I'm taking a physics class at the college," Rosalie purred, leaning her head against Emmett's as he combed through her hair with his fingers.

"Perhaps," Carlisle began doubtfully, "I could speak to the principal about you taking motor vehicle repair with Jasper and the boys. I understand from Edward and Emmett that there are often accidents, scraps and cuts, among the other students, but perhaps with all three of you there to..."

His voice trailed off. Alice had gone completely still, her eyes caught on some invisible sight in the middle distance. Her eyes became darker and rounder, like two empty graves in the middle of her delicate face. The family was alternately fascinated, entranced or, in Rosalie's case, appalled, as Jasper's gaze traveled slowly to each of their faces. He did not glance at Alice at all, but instead seemed to be studying them to see what their reaction would be to her powers. 

She came back to herself as abruptly as she had left, her eyes filling with light again and a smile curving her lips as she looked at Jasper. "You can take home economics with me!" She dropped his hand and clapped hers together. "I'm going to use you as a model and make you The Most Beautiful Suit. Linen, I think. Ooh," she jumped up and skittered to a stack of paper on a nearby desk. "I have to jot this down before I forget what it looks like - it's so beautiful, Jasper, I--"

"So do you ever have visions of important things? Or only inconsequential household events?" Rosalie asked. Edward shook his head at her and Rosalie glared at him. _You don't like them anymore than I do, Edward, you know you don't. You're just going along to make Esme happy. Always the little suck-up._

Jasper went still again, stared at Rose's face with hard, immovable eyes. Emmett growled in response and bared his teeth. Alice, completely oblivious, kept drawing and said lightly, "Oh, I have visions of all sorts of things. Some important and then-- things like this," she flipped the paper around to show them a sloppy but charming pencil sketch of a figure, obviously Jasper, in a double-breasted suit. "Though I do have a lot of visions about the weather," Alice turned to Rosalie with a guileless smile. "I'm much more accurate than so-called meteorologists, but I suppose that's to be expected."

Everyone, save Rosalie, had to smile at Alice's responses. The tension in the room eased and Edward noticed Jasper taking slow deep breaths as he listened to Alice detail her plans for their home economics class. 

Did he have some kind of power he was hiding from the rest of them? Edward wondered. He resisted the pull toward calmness he was feeling. Jasper turned his head and stared at Edward for a moment, and Edward felt another pulse of contentment fogging his brain. He focused on Jasper's thoughts, parsing them out from all the others buzzing around the room. He was thinking about Alice - how to make Alice happy. _If she says it will work out, it will. She's been alone for so long, she was so desperate for a family._

Then the thoughts cut off abruptly and he went back to working on the last geometry problem he'd seen in the textbook.

They stared at each other until Alice paused in her descriptions and glanced from Edward to Jasper and back again. She smiled at Edward. _He has empathic talents but he won't use them unless he feels he need to. He was worried about Emmett and Rosalie, that's all._ He heard her thoughts clearly and finally broke away from staring at Jasper and turned to interrupt the conversation continuing around him. 

"I think I'll move some of my things into Carlisle's study," he said, retreating up the stairs as Esme and Carlisle wished him goodnight. It was weird enough having two siblings who seemed to exist in a perpetual pre- or post-coital bliss. Now he had to worry about one who could see their futures and another who could project his own emotions. So much for an inauspicious day. 

He still felt there was a story Jasper was hiding. He had been able to control his mind so far, with the geometry problems, by picturing long shadowy hallways full of closed doors. But eventually, everyone's control slipped. Those doors would fly open, revealing to Edward whatever he was hiding.

Alice was the opposite - her pool of memories was shallower than the rest of them, but she made no attempt to contain them. On the contrary, her mind was brimming over with excitement and love for all of them. Love so deep it took Edward aback - she must have thought about them many times over the years to care so much.

Or perhaps, for some reason, she fell in love quicker than others? When it came to Jasper, Edward couldn't trust her impressions. He knew some partners could overlook a great deal, especially among their kind who mated for life. And who was to say that Jasper wasn't more powerful than he appeared. Maybe he had put her under some kind of permanent mind control - that would explain how they were so different yet seemed so in love...

"Isn't Rosalie beautiful?" Hours later, Jasper and Alice were curled up in Edward's single bed. Jasper could just fit on it if he bent his legs and didn't move too much. Luckily Alice liked nothing better than lying on top of him, her head tucked under his chin. 

_"Aren't you going to hold me?"_ Jasper heard the echo of her voice from years ago and wrapped his arms around her, running his hands up and down her spine. "Rosalie's a bitch," he said flatly.

"Well, at the moment. But we're going to wear her down. And you and Emmett will be friends. He's very light-hearted."

"And Edward?" Jasper asked. Alice told him Edward was the only one who had picked up on his empathic ability, so she had explained it to him to keep him from worrying. Alice was sure the Cullens would be fine with it, but Jasper had enough experience on the battlefield to know it was better to keep advantages, especially supernatural ones, hidden for as long as possible. 

"Oh, Edward. He's a dear. We will be great friends to him. Rosalie and Emmett are so wrapped up in each other, they don't spend much time with him. Besides, he was a good sport about his bedroom."

She pillowed her head on one of her arms and began idly tracing Jasper's features with her fingertips. "It'll be lovely." She was all dreamy and blissed-out now that they were finally with the Cullens and it pierced Jasper's heart to see her like this, letting the ocean of love he felt for her flow free. 

"She has beautiful hair, Rosalie. And Edward, but especially Rosalie. It's almost as beautiful as yours," Alice said wistfully, holding a strand of his hair up to the light. 

He pulled her forward an inch so he could claim her mouth. "I love your hair," he murmured against her lips. "It enables me to see every bit of your beautiful face at the same time." She grinned and spread her legs to fall on either side of his body, curling her feet underneath his thighs. He made a sound in the back of his throat and she laughed. 

"We have to do this very carefully. Poor Edward's bed isn't built for this. We should try not to break it on the first night," she warned him and he nodded, distracted, as he fixed his teeth on her shoulder. "We're going to be so happy here, Jasper," she whispered as he ran his palm, hard, down the center of her body. "You believe that, don't you?" she gasped, her hips beginning to writhe on top of him.

"Darlin'," and that old angelic charm smile lit up his face, deeper and truer than ever because it was just for her, "the only thing in this world I have complete faith in is you."


	2. You Can Hang Up Your Heavy Coat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family learns more about Jasper's past during a swimming adventure.

Winter 1950

A few months after they joined the family, Jasper mentioned in passing that he hadn't been swimming since he was a human. Carlisle and Esme exchanged a look and a week later, she suggested a hunting trip to Western Canada, an area Jasper and Alice had never visited before.

"It's gorgeous there," Esme told Jasper and Alice. "We try to go once or twice a year. This time of year, especially, the landscape is so starkly beautiful. I'm going to bring the camera and take pictures." Esme always had the latest photographic equipment for the period - Carlisle was nothing if not an indulgent husband - and she loved taking pictures and developing them in her darkroom. The whole family was subject to the unrelenting clicking of her cameras, even though the photos could only be displayed publicly for a few years before the clothing trends changed and the photos had to be hidden away in boxes.

They drove up in three cars, Jasper and Alice riding with Edward as he took sharp curves on two wheels in his Jaguar XK120. "Rosalie and Emmett always take their own car," he called, the wind whipping his words away. The wind was almost overwhelming Jasper's senses with the plethora of smells and he was very still. Alice sat in his lap, a scarf tied demurely over her hair and sunglasses perched on her nose. 

A maroon car roared as it approached behind them. "Rosalie fixed that car up herself - Triumph 1800 Roadster, but she put a new engine in it to get it up to speed. She has an amazing mechanical mind. It would have been wasted, no doubt, if she hadn't- oh, there she goes again--" He cursed as Rosalie honked and sped past them, Emmett dangling out the window, waving with a cupped hand like a British royal with a sly grin on his face. "That's what we're doing today, I suppose." Edward shifted gears and glanced over at Jasper and Alice, laughing. "Hold on."

Alice placed her mouth next to Jasper's ear and whispered, "I told you I needed this scarf."

After everyone had hunted and fed, Carlisle gathered them in a group in the deep woods. Esme clapped her hands, a bright smile spreading across her delicate face. "Time to get wet!" She dug into her camera bag and began removing swimming costumes and passing them around. "Here we go-- no skinny-dipping this time, you two, _I mean it_ ," she told Emmett and Rosalie firmly as she passed them a pair of black trunks and a bright red strapless suit. Emmett rolled his eyes as he lifted Rosalie over his shoulder and walked away.

"Me and Rose will get changed back here," he called over his other shoulder and Rosalie's echoing laugh followed them through the woods.

Jasper and Edward both rolled their eyes and Carlisle stared up at the treetops with a carefully blank look. "We typically go up that cliff and then jump into the lake," he explained to Jasper and Alice. "We found it years ago. It's lovely and very remote, and deserted this time of year, of course."

Esme offered them swimming costumes with a hopeful smile. "I do hope you will have fun. We usually have a race to get in and the last one has to toss the rest of us back up to the cliff for diving. Emmett always loses, of course."

"I might sit it out, if it is all right with you, ma'am," Jasper spoke up. He held the blue trunks she had passed him out at arm's length and looked down at Esme apologetically. 

Edward whirled his head around, looking back at Jasper curiously. He had already shed his shirt and jacket and was sliding his belt out of the loops. 

"Oh, Jasper, I--" Esme fluttered her hands, her head whirling around as she looked from Jasper to Edward to Alice to Carlisle, then back to Jasper. "Well, I-- if you don't want to, of course it's--"

Alice ducked behind a huge maple tree and emerged in her suit in ten seconds. She exclaimed, "It fits perfectly, Esme, thank you!", grabbed Jasper, and pulled him back behind the tree with her. 

A few minutes later, she led him out by the hand. Edward, of course, had heard their thoughts and knew what he would see. He was careful to only look out of the corners of his eyes. Esme gasped once and then Carlisle took her hand and said, casually as ever, "Shall we proceed before Rosalie and Emmett return?"

All Jasper's muscles were tensed, his shoulder and back as hard as the rocks that made up the mountain they were jumping off. He had always been careful to wear long sleeves and long pants around the Cullens. They had seen the scars on his neck and his hands, but that was all. He knew the reaction his scars provoked in other vampires, but Alice begged him to swim with her. "Jasper, they'll see them at some point, it's inevitable. We should get it over with today. Please come with me." 

It only took one glance in those wide golden eyes, so sure and beseeching, her perfect mouth a little pouted, and he was as lost as he'd been from the first time he'd touched her in Philadelphia. "Fine," he muttered. "Let's go get it over with."

"Excellent!" She clapped her hands and unbuttoned his shirt before he could change his mind. She pressed a line of kisses over his chest and Jasper grinned despite himself. It _had_ been a long time since he'd been swimming.

They each dived off the cliff in turn, Jasper executing a perfect swan dive into the deep black waters. Alice was more theatrical, of course, somersaulting through the air and landing a foot from Jasper with a tremendous splash, then laughing when he dove under water, grabbed her feet, and tossed her across the lake. She twisted through the air and landed a perfect swan dive of her own. 

Jasper, Carlisle, and Edward raced around the lake as Esme and Alice floated on their backs in the center, occasionally diving down to touch the deepest part of the bottom and emerge with lost human treasures - wedding rings and rusted single earrings, old pocket change, even spent bullets. 

Carlisle explained, as they swam, that they always came here in the fall or early winter, assuming the lake wasn't frozen yet. Of course, they could come in the middle of the night regardless of the season without worrying about the sun, but sometimes there were humans out skinny-dipping, or fisherman if they stayed too close to dawn, and they couldn't jump and play around like they wanted to without drawing attention. 

It was peaceful and quiet and Jasper had almost relaxed when Rosalie and Emmett emerged at the top of the cliff with warrior yells. Rosalie jumped first and Emmett right after. 

"Rotten egg again, Emmett," Esme called when they finally surfaced, twined together, close to where Jasper, Edward, and Carlisle were treading water, watching. Rosalie laughed indulgently as Emmett whispered in her ear. They were turning to swim toward Esme and Alice when Rosalie caught sight of Jasper's torso and her eyes widened. She went still and Emmett spun around to see what alarmed her. His eyes widened as well, his arms automatically moving Rosalie behind him.

"Jesus Christ, Jasper, you look like you were raised in a pit of newborns. What happened to you?"

Jasper met Emmett's eyes steadily. Alice was right, if he was going to stay with this clan, he had to disclose his past and allow them to make their own decisions about his worthiness as a member.

"I fought in the Southern Wars, and I trained newborns for decades," he said flatly. "Some are from the battles with the other covens. Some are from destroying the newborns once their newborn strength faded, if they were of no special use to us." 

Emmett looked impressed despite himself; the amount of scars on Jasper's body meant he would have killed hundreds of newborn vampires, when most vampires encountered only a handful in their entire existence and often had to fight for their lives against the newborn's heightened strength. 

Rosalie's eyes were cool and she kept them on him, considering. "Why did you do this? Was this your previous coven's lifestyle?"

"It was more like an army, but yes. The person who turned me told me that all of us lived as they did. Constant war and bloodshed, fighting for territory." 

"What a horrible way to survive," Rosalie remarked, her eyes still distant and wary. 

"Yes," he agreed. Esme and Alice watched him from across the lake. Esme's eyes were tender and sad, but Alice's were only accepting. She flashed him the quickest, sweetest smile, and he let his own lips curve, just a little. 

"I have met very few survivors of that region," Carlisle spoke up. "You are fortunate to have escaped that lifestyle." He paused. "It's remarkable you have fared as well as you have here when you spent so many decades surrounded by endless violence."

"Now that we know what happened, we can understand you better," Emmett added. "It does help a lot of things make sense."

"Yes," Rosalie agreed. "Come on, Superman," she turned back to Emmett suddenly. "You haven't thrown any of us up yet. Do me first." 

"Shoot, Alice is so little I could throw you both up at once. Come on, Alice!" he called. "Time to cliff jump!"

Jasper ducked under the water, swimming back toward the base of the cliff. He lifted himself out of the water and sat on a large flat rock. It was overcast today but it did feel freeing to be outside without the long sleeved shirts and pants he'd been wearing for the past few months. If he tilted his head back he could easily watch Alice and Rosalie execute dive after dive from the cliffs. Emmett kept groaning in mock protest as he grabbed them, swam down to the bottom of the lake, pushed off, and launched them back up to the edge to dive again. 

Carlisle and Edward swam up beside him again and Jasper made the effort to clear his head from the thoughts of his past. He figured Edward had seen parts of it anyway (as much as he hated to, sometimes he couldn't help but think of it), but Alice assured him he would never bring it up without Jasper giving him a signal to do so. "Edward's gift is as much of a burden to him as yours is," she told him. 

Looking at Jasper now, Edward would have echoed Alice's sentiments. Arms, legs, chest, back - almost everywhere he looked, Jasper's skin was marred with brutality and violence. The silvered scars were so faint that human eyes would only see them if they peered at him closely in the light. For a vampire, however, they would stand out like a neon sign. And even worse than that, he could hear Jasper's disgust at the way he had lived for so many years, even as he tried to bury his thoughts under blankness. 

"We feel the way Emmett," Edward advised him quietly. "Just so you know."

Jasper glanced at him once in acknowledgment and sat silently for a long moment, studying his own flesh. "I don't want any of this to reflect on Alice," he said tightly. "It's nothing to do with her. She didn't live-- the way I did."

Carlisle and Edward exchanged a surprised glance. "I don't believe anyone thought that she did," Carlisle said carefully. 

After a moment, Edward smiled and added, "It is rather amusing to think of Alice as a soldier, however."

Jasper laughed low in his throat and turned his head to watch Alice jump on Emmett's back and duck him under the water, laughing. "She's fierce in her way, but more of a seer than a soldier."

"You met Alice after you left that life then?" Carlisle asked gently. 

"Yes. After so many years, it had grown... weary." Jasper laid back fully on the rock, keeping his eyes open and alert. It struck Edward that he had never seen Jasper relax without Alice nearby and he wondered if he ever did. "A friend escaped with his mate, and he was kind enough to return and explain to me that in the North, most vampires lived relatively peacefully, as nomads, and did not fight over territory as we did. I left with him and then I traveled through the North until Alice found me."

"The wars were always worse in the South," Carlisle explained. "The Volturi had to intervene many times to control the situation. We can talk about it more, if you are interested in the background of that region. I have an academic interest in the history of vampires."

"Carlisle, you have an academic interest in almost everything," Alice called brightly as she swam over to them. She swam like an eel, her legs and arms rippling together to propel her with barely any waves. She hopped onto the rock where Jasper was lying, lifting herself over him to kiss him. She wriggled her head back and forth and he smiled as she pelted him with water droplets.

Edward watched in amusement as tiny Alice, her halter-style bathing suit clinging to her thin frame, sprawled out on Jasper's chest like a cat on a sun-warmed windowsill, stretching one leg out and nuzzling her head against his chest. Her eyes closed and a look of contentment spread across her face. She waved a hand in their general direction. "Go on," she instructed, and went still. 

Carlisle and Jasper continued talking about the wars, how they began so long ago with someone named Benito, and Edward realized what Alice was doing. She wanted to display to the family that they had nothing to fear from Jasper, that despite the threats present on his very skin, he was committed to living a peaceful life as part of their family. Jasper, for his part, stroked his hand softly over her hair, smoothing the short, dark strands against her head, a smile flickering across his face when she turned her head and brushed her lips over his chest.

After a few moments, Alice opened her eyes and stared directly at Edward, almost as if she was reading his thoughts for a change. Edward smiled in understanding and Alice smiled back. 

From that day forward, Edward never had a moment's hesitation about accepting Alice and Jasper as his sister and brother.


	3. Find Your Way in This World of Hurt

It was a few days after the swimming adventure in the Canadian woods. Jasper and Alice were sitting by a stream on the Cullens' isolated property, enjoying the winter sun as it eked its fragile way through the trees. Jasper had his shirtsleeves rolled up and his collar undone, since he didn't have to hide his scars anymore. 

Alice was wearing a short silver flapper style dress she had designed herself and covered bodice to hem with 1,735 pieces of beaded fringe. She had never gotten the chance to enjoy the 1920s, given that she was stumbling through the decade with no memories and no idea of what she was, so she enjoyed revisiting her "youth" when she could.

Jasper watched her bare shoulders gleam in the sun, smiling at the elaborate joy she took in even the most simple activities, like reading by the water. 

Alice was painstakingly underlining a passage in a book on economics. Emmett had brought up the idea of her turning her predictive abilities toward the stock market, which seemed a capital idea to her. Since she knew next to nothing about business, she was trying to educate herself. "You make better predictions when you know what you’re talking about," she explained to Emmett as he piled books in her arms. "I learned that the hard way when I was starting out."

"Alice-kazam, you're such a brilliant little freak, you'll have us rich as Daddy Warbucks in a few months," Emmett joked. 

"I'm still not sure if this is a prudent use of your talents, Alice. We have more than enough money," protested Esme. "It's not like we have to worry about food or med--"

A chorus of protests rose up from the rest of them.

"If we had more money, we could buy bigger houses and better cars. We do have two more people to house now," Rosalie put in.

"And Carlisle, you always say it's our duty to preserve as much of human history as we can." That was Edward. 

"Plus, we all need more clothes. And shoes!" Alice informed them, already reading the spines of the books.

"Yeah, and I need fermenting equipment," Emmett added. Everyone turned their head to give him a look. "What? I want to start brewing beer!"

"You can't even drink," Edward said, half-amused and half-withering.

"I know, but I read a book and I want to experiment. I'm going to give whatever I make to the poor, Esme!" 

Esme gave him a little smile but Alice wasn't sure what the impact of Emmett's free home-brewed liquor would be on the local community. She'd have to remember to look for a vision on that later.

"We can all find uses for the money," Carlisle said, raising his hands. "Including more charitable giving, Esme." He placed his arm around her and she nodded, acquiescing. "But, Alice, you must promise that you will not feel any pressure to succeed on our account-- any of ours. Learning about business and economics is a valuable pursuit regardless of the outcome."

Alice had nodded and promised, but she wanted to prove herself to her family, knowing how much it would please them. This was the third book she had read today, occasionally looking up to ask Jasper questions about one topic or another, which he answered in German. Edward, who had devoted his eternity to academic and artistic pursuits, spoke over twenty languages and Jasper was determined to try and catch up with him. 

She flipped to a chapter on market fluctuations and rewarded herself for her efforts by stretching her neck up to the clouds and sneaking a peek at Jasper. Vegetarianism was… well, it was still a struggle for him. This was a life he had never imagined for himself, but they were making a go of it together. For her part, she was so happy she could scarcely believe it. All of her visions had worked out perfectly. Edward and Emmett were, in their very different ways, excellent brothers, and Carlisle and Esme were exactly what she imagined quasi-parental-figures should be. And of course, she had Jasper.

He reached out absently and ran his hand over her hair, down her shoulder and her arm to her hand. She squeezed his fingers and his lips twitched with pleasure. 

Suddenly, in the middle of these peaceful thoughts, it came. A flashing vision of long blonde hair billowing through the branches. Someone was coming to find them… 

When she blinked and refocused, Jasper was looking down at her. “Rosalie," she murmured, looking past him to the woods that led to their home. “She’s coming to see us.” 

"Rosalie?” he frowned. _“Why?"_ She had been a little friendlier since the lake, but she still circled the two of them like a wary tiger. He could feel her emotions like a splash of cold water down his spine so he tried to stay away from her as much as he could. He understood her rejection of him, but Alice had done nothing to deserve her dislike and that was what he found so hard to forgive.

He knew that Edward had accepted them on their trip to Canada, and Carlisle, Emmett, and Esme had already. Aside from Alice, Emmett and Esme were the easiest for him to be around. Perhaps because they were the most like her – open and full of light. Those people appeared uncomplicated to some, but to Jasper they were the deepest mystery. How they could walk through this world, which screamed out its endless stories of devastation, and not harden their hearts against the onslaught? They overflowed with kindness and generosity of spirit, even when it appeared their goodness was spilling unnoticed on the ground. Somehow, they continued. 

He had the sense from the beginning that Edward and Rosalie, but Rosalie especially, were more like him. A bit slower to warm to people, and more cautious as to where they placed their trust. Jasper had learned that the hard way, over decades on the battlefield. He wondered who had taught Rosalie that lesson.

Alice sighed. "I don't know. I think she wants to talk to us about something." She had a vague feeling sometimes, like something half-remembered from a dream, that she was meant to have a sister, that there was a hole cut out of her life where someone should be standing. She had hoped maybe Rosalie would fill it, but just a week before, she and Emmett had told the family that they planned to marry again and move out on their own after their high school graduation in May. They had found a lovely little starter cottage in the mountains. 

Alice knew this was something they had done before, but she still couldn’t help but take it as a rebuke – that Rosalie was eager to get away because she resented their arrival.

Jasper's black eyes went brighter - it would be undetectable to almost anyone else, but Alice had spent decades watching those eyes, so she could see all the telltale signs that meant he was heightening his gift, sending out invisible tendrils to study the emotions in the environment around him. "If anything, she seems nervous. But... resolved, I suppose, like she's made a decision."

"Maybe she wants to be friends," Alice offered hopefully and Jasper blanked his face so he wouldn't look doubtful. "You never know! We don't really understand her yet--"

"More likely, she's come to question us. Namely, what our intentions are and how long we plan to stay."

In the midst of their whispered discussion, Rosalie emerged from the woods on the opposite side of the stream. She jumped it easily, and stood in front of them, hesitating as though waiting for an invitation. "Could I speak to you?" Rosalie asked politely, glancing between the pair of them.

"Of course," Alice replied, elbowing him. He closed the copy of _Berlin Alexanderplatz_ that Edward had loaned him and shifted on the rock, lifting Alice and placing her between his legs. The beaded fringe on her dress sent out a loud, ostentatious clicking in the quiet clearing and she smiled reflexively, brushing her fingers over the skirt to straighten the pieces. She settled one hand on Jasper's thigh, a reassuring gesture to relax him. She understood he was holding her closer for protection, as though his body could shield her from whatever Rosalie planned to say.

"I suppose you're surprised to see me here," Rosalie said as she situated herself on the rock where Alice had been sitting. Jasper studied her, taking her measure like he would any opponent he met on the battlefield. She was quite breathtaking in the sun, her pale blonde beauty on full display. His appreciation was strictly artistic, but he understood at moments like this why Emmett thought her an angel. She tossed her hair over one shoulder, smoothing her hand over it like she was stroking a beloved pet.

"A bit," Alice answered. "You must have decided it quickly, I only saw a glimpse of you a few minutes ago. Do you have something you wish to discuss?" 

Rosalie spent a moment watching them before she responded. They made a peculiar picture, a stone-faced soldier, dressed in black, his muscles tensed around this wide-eyed, petite woman sitting on a dirty rock in a silver fringed party dress. Still, there was something in the way they touched each other that spoke to her. 

"I have always hated the fact that Edward was gifted,” Rosalie blurted out. “The truth is important to me, but Edward—" She shook her head. "There are some truths that are painful. And Edward takes them all, sometimes without wanting to. It's a hard thing to live with day in and day out. That was one reason why I wasn’t friendly when the two of you first arrived.”

Alice winced. "We can understand your apprehension about two more gifted vampires arriving out of the blue. Can't we?" She glanced up at Jasper and he nodded reluctantly.

"I don't particularly relish living with Edward's gift either," he muttered.

Rosalie flattened her beautiful mouth and stared hard at Alice. "You know, don't you?" 

"Know?" Alice asked, squeezing Jasper's thigh tighter as she felt him tense behind her. 

"The circumstances that made Carlisle turn me. I assume you saw it." 

Jasper could feel that merely asking the question had agitated Rosalie and he took a deep breath. He wondered what her reaction would be if he tried to calm her, but Alice spoke up before he could. Perhaps the truth would calm her just as well. 

"No," she answered. "He must have decided to change you very quickly. The first time I saw you, you were a newborn. I saw you carrying Emmett to Carlisle, because of the time it took." She had guessed at Rosalie's story over the years, when she saw glimpses of her in a wedding dress, slaughtering men, but she had never looked too deeply. Alice hesitated. "I also saw what would have happened if you didn't have Carlisle turn him."

Rosalie looked taken aback for a moment, but then she smiled. "Really? How did that path end?"

"Not very happily," Alice said after another moment's hesitation. "You -- it's only one possible outcome, Rosalie, but I saw a future where you left the Cullens and went to Italy to join the Volturi."

Now Rosalie laughed, the sound taking flight in the sunlight like a kaleidoscope of butterflies. "I'd like to hear that story sometime. I'm sure they would prefer someone like you to me."

"You don't have supernatural gifts, Rosalie, but you have other remarkable abilities. Your strength, your mind, your will." 

"That's kind of you," Rosalie responded, her eyes betraying her surprise as the rest of her face remained as lovely and peaceful as the babbling stream behind them. She looked down at the ground, gathering up a flat rock. She rolled it across her fingers, watching it flip from one to the next. "No memories to haunt you," Rosalie muttered. "You're very lucky, you know."

Alice stayed silent but Jasper tensed even harder under her settling hand. Alice was the happiest person he knew, but the barren wasteland in her memory where her early life should be was a sore spot with her. ""She had no choice in that, Rosalie. No one would voluntarily forget an entire life upon entering this one."

Rosalie raised a doubtful eyebrow at that statement. "Have you wondered whether something so bad happened to you that you made yourself forget everything?"

"Carlisle said he doubted it," Alice said. "He said if that were the case, some of my memories would have started to return."

"He would know, I suppose," Rosalie said. She flipped the small rock she had been manipulating into the air and caught it handily. "I owe Carlisle a great debt for giving me Emmett," she continued. "A debt like that I can never repay." Her face softened when she spoke of her husband. Like everyone else in the family, Jasper and Alice had been made uncomfortably aware of Rosalie and Emmett's libidinous tendencies and they tried to ignore it as much as they could. But they also knew that the couple's deep bond was more than physical. 

Rosalie looked upon Emmett like he was a newly discovered sun, one that reached into a cold place no other light could touch. Jasper recognized the look because it was one he had seen on his own face since Alice had found him.

"It's partly because of Emmett that I came today. He likes you both quite a bit. Jasper's interests align more with his than Edward's do." She grinned, her face lighting up and becoming even lovelier. "He used to say only Carlisle and Esme were patient enough to watch Edward mope over that piano for eternity."

Jasper bit back his smile. "We both like Emmett. He's full of energy, but it's... restful, somehow. What you see is what you get."

"Yes!" Rosalie answered. "Carlisle said once that he was the kind of man who never met a stranger. Except -" She sighed. "He can't make friends with humans. And outside the family, members of our kind tend to be..."

"Dour?" Jasper filled in. "Suspicious? Moody? Tortured?"

"Not all of us!" Alice protested, looking back into his face. 

"Some of us are more acquired tastes than others," Rosalie said wryly. "I would like it if you could be friends to him. If the two of you felt comfortable being around us." She took a deep breath. She had been idly pulling bits of moss off the rock she sat on, and now she brushed her hands off, her mouth twisted in disgust. She glanced again at Jasper, at his arms where they surrounded Alice. Alice didn't need to look down to know what she saw. His scars always glittered brighter in the sunlight, like beautiful veins of diamonds blasted into the marble of his skin. She took her free hand and ran it over his arm, feeling his memories whisper against her skin. 

"I want to trust you both. So I'm going to ask you something that appears to be unfriendly, but I hope you will answer honestly." She fixed her intense gaze on Jasper's face, the gold of her eyes so deep it looked almost velvet. "What did you do in the Wars? I know you killed, not only the newborns but those your army conquered. Did you torture your conquered, your prisoners? Did you rape them?"

Alice found Jasper's hands and clasped them inside her own. He turned his head down, breathing in the scent of her hair. He had images from those years that he kept locked up deep inside his mind. Questions like these took him back to a bad place, years of blood and burning, a brutal hellscape he longed to forget. 

"I've done an eternity of things I'm ashamed of, Rosalie, starting when I volunteered to fight for the Confederacy. I was a foolish, prideful boy who didn't understand that I was assisting in the subjugation of an entire race of people. I was ignorant and selfish." 

His voice was low and flat, but his hands were cold as ice inside Alice's. She leaned her head back against his chest, staring into the trees and wishing she had the ability to soothe his mind the way he soothed hers.

"But for all my mistakes, I have never raped anyone. Perhaps because we were led by a woman, our coven did not use rape as a tool in battle. Torture... I don't believe in it unless it was absolutely necessary for information gathering. Usually it isn't," he said. His body had gone numb now with the force of trying to hold his mind in the present. Only the weight and warmth of Alice against him kept him tethered to the present. "If I saw any kind of mindless infliction of pain for its own sake, I stopped it if I could."

"If you could?" Rosalie asked. She had watched him carefully throughout his explanation, looking for any signs of falsehoods.

"I was a leader, but I was not the final law. I had to answer to my own master. Rosalie, I have tried to leave violence behind me. I know it's hard to tell." He lifts his arms, scars glittering magnificently with every tiny movement. "But all I want now is Alice, to live in peace with her. It's a poor atonement for the damage I've caused, but there are things that I can never set right. If you would like further reassurance, I'm sure Edward has seen enough of what I've done to be able to corroborate my claims."

Alice sat up straighter. She knew what it cost Jasper to offer this, how humiliated he was to know that Edward carried these dark memories of him fighting and killing, scheming and brutalizing for no purpose but to gain territory and power for Maria. 

"Everything he's told you is true," she said to Rosalie, jutting her chin out. "He's no danger to you, to anyone here. He would only fight now to defend me, or to defend this family."

Rosalie closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, their golden depths were as tortured as Jasper's. He remembered something his father used to say, long ago. Usually to his brother Sam, when Sam was in his wild teenage years. _"One day you're going to wake up in a world of hurt."_ He had lived in that world for so very long, and accepted it as no less than what he deserved for all that he had done.

But the innocent were a different case, and so many of them lived and died in that world of hurt too. Now he wondered if Rosalie was one of them.

"I believe you. I'm sorry I had to ask." She looked down, moving back until her hair fell across her face and hid her eyes. "I was suspicious when you arrived - I could tell you had been a soldier and I wondered what you were hiding. Alice, well, no offense, but you seem so innocent. I wondered if he had fooled you."

"I would have _seen_ that, Rosalie," Alice retorted. "My powers provide me with self-preservation above all else."

"Lucky you," she said tonelessly. "As you said, I am not gifted. I had no such ability to protect me."

Alice bit her lip, sinking back into Jasper's embrace. "Of course. I suppose it was natural for you to wonder if he had deceived me. Edward said he wondered the same, whether Jasper's abilities had enabled him to fool me in some way."

"As if I could ever deceive you," he whispered against her hair and she smiled back at him. 

"Edward was being protective-- of all of you," she finished, looking back at Rosalie. "None of the others would allow us to stay here if they believed we could cause that kind of harm. Especially Emmett where you are concerned, Rosalie."

"Yes," Rosalie said simply. "That is true. And as I said, Emmett likes you both. But I had to be sure..." She sighed, reaching down to the ground and pulling up a handful of dead grass. Her fingers smoothed through the browned strands, twisting and straightening them in turns. "You have revealed part of your past to me, Jasper, so I suppose I owe you the same. The way I was turned, it was-- I'm afraid it was quite horrible." She began to braid the strands of grass, tiny delicate movements that belied the pain in her voice. The anger was still as fresh as if it had happened only the day before. 

"I was eighteen - - a very vain and prideful eighteen. It was 1933. I was engaged to the handsome scion of the richest family in town. I was quite satisfied with myself, convinced I had everything a girl my age could want. One night, I walked home from my best friend's house. Under a broken streetlight, I saw a group of men drinking in the street. My fiance and his friends. He was always quite proud of my beauty, like I was a shiny new automobile he had bought right off the line. He always loved to show me off.

"It took me a moment to understand what he intended. I never imagined -- I was innocent too, I suppose. I never imagined _Royce King_ would do that to me." She spit out his name, imbuing it with ironic awe and disgust at the same time. "Once they beat the fight out of me, I looked up at the stars and waited to die. I tried to leave my body, but they kept hurting it. Like spoiled drunk boys wreck a car when they're bored with it."

Jasper's mind had been filled with echoes of Rosalie's pain since she started telling the story. He forced himself to feel it, to witness it. Alice was shivering and silent against his body - not from cold, he knew, but from her own sorrow at what had been done to Rosalie. She longed to reach out and hold her, but she understood, like Jasper did, that they were only sacred witnesses now, handed a part of her story to carry forever. 

"They flayed me apart. Carlisle gave me a second chance, but they killed me that night. They killed the girl who didn't know what it was like to be destroyed. Who could trust easily. Who thought she could have a perfect life, that she ever deserved one.

"And they left behind a monster. A monster frozen with her beautiful face, imprisoned forever inside her pain." She sat up, tossing her hair aside so they could see her flawless face again. She crumpled her fists and ground the braided grass to dust inside them. "You see, Jasper, I'm as scarred as you, but mine are on the inside, where no one can see. Sometimes it's harder that way. I can remember what it was like to lie there under the stars, their faces looming over me. How my clothes were still wet with my blood when I woke up, changed. But that's all on the inside. To strangers, I still look like that beautiful, pampered girl, who always got everything she wanted."

"Rosalie," Alice whispered. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Jasper's palms are sweating icy venom inside Alice's, as he tried to keep from screaming at the pain he felt from Rosalie. He wanted to speak but he found he couldn't.

Alice lifted his hands to her mouth and kissed them in turn, pressing her warmth into his flesh. He breathed deep, forcing down the images Rosalie left in his mind. 

In the war, if they lost any newborns in a battle with one of the rougher covens, he would hear them screaming for days. That was how some covens treated their prisoners. Eventually, even the strongest of them broke. When their bodies were ripped apart, the heads could still scream. Most people didn't know that, didn't know how long pain could last, how it could be drawn out like the final note in a song. How long someone could beg before the sounds turned inhuman. How far moans and screams from the brutalized could carry on the wind. Jasper knew all that and more. 

"Where are these men now?" Jasper asked at last, raising his black eyes back up to Rosalie's face.

"That's what Emmett asked me when I told him. Then he held onto me." Rosalie smiled mirthlessly and it was the smile of the hunter. "I took care of them all myself. Years ago. I don't tell you for sympathy," she continued. "I tell you because of what you told us. Because you have to understand me too. I can see what you went through," she nodded to his scars. "I know you understand what it's like to suffer. To be treated like that, it changes you."

He nodded. "Yes. I know. Even if you can survive the pain, pieces of you fall away. You hold no blame for what happened, Rosalie. No amount of vanity or pride could ever mean you deserved that. You were, you _are_ innocent. And if there is a hell, those men deserve to burn there."

"They do. I hope they are. I held onto the anger for a long time. It was the only way forward I could find. I couldn't let myself be the torn-up broken girl Carlisle found in the street." She rose to her feet, smoothed her hair back. Flawless and strong, strong in a way they were only beginning to understand. "I won't be that way ever again. I will do whatever it takes to protect myself and Emmett, and this family. I know I could destroy to survive. It takes me time to realize when those defenses are called for, and when they're not." 

Jasper and Alice understood that to be an apology for how she had been with them in the beginning, and a promise that the future would be better. So Jasper offered up one of his own. "It's natural for people like us to be defensive. Not to classify you in the same group as me," he hastened to add. "Only--"

"Actually, in my studies of psychology, I've found some research that stated the impact from combat shock is not dissimiliar to the traumatic response provoked by rape," Rosalie said, moving back to the stream and skipping a stone across it. Her movements were more languid now, and Jasper felt her deep relief that her story had been told, that the telling was over and done with. She felt more comfortable communicating academically rather than emotionally. "In the time after the attack but before Emmett, I couldn't stand being touched without warning, or having anyone come up behind me. In that way, our heightened senses have been a gift to me, enabled me to protect myself. It was how I recognized you as a soldier before you told us."

Alice glanced at Jasper, waited for him to nod before she spoke. "Jasper has some of the same reactions as you. A hatred of loud noises, an exaggerated reflex when he's surprised. Not that he is very often, not with me around," she said, reaching back to run her hand over his cheek. His heart broke a little at her pride in taking care of him. "Perhaps the two of you could speak of this sometime."

Rosalie turned back to face them. "Perhaps." She and Jasper eyed each other, then she smiled. "It does seem fitting now, that Carlisle has decided we should pretend to be twins when we move to our next home, doesn't it?" 

Jasper nodded and smiled back. "I suppose it does. We'll have to create proper backstories for ourselves in the future."

"Personally I like to tell the annoying, nosy ones that my whole family was poisoned, very mysterious, they never found who did it, and then walk away."

Alice laughed. "Jasper simply glares at them and tries to give them stomach pains."

"That sounds _delightful_ ," Rosalie said fervently. "I'm afraid I have to return to the house now. Emmett made me promise I would spot him. He's trying to learn to juggle bayonets."

Jasper and Alice exchanged a look. "All right, now that we have to see," she declared, and she rose easily, holding out her hand as he got up. Alice's dress sent up another round of clicking and clacking as she walked through the trees, bordered by Rosalie and Jasper, and she put a bounce in her step because she liked the sound so much. She asked Rosalie where Emmett had gotten the bayonets from, and as she answered, she caught a glimpse of Jasper's face. He was frowning in thought.

"What is it, Jasper?" Rosalie asked.

"Carlisle could have left you there to die. As horrible and brutal as it was, surely he had seen things like that before," Jasper ventured. "Did you ever wonder why?"

"Part of it was his natural magnanimity. He knew me slightly, and he said he couldn't stand the waste, a bright young girl dying such an ugly death, alone in the dark." She huffed out a snarky laugh. "And the other part was for Edward." 

She nodded when surprise flashed over their faces. "He felt bad for Edward. He was alone with Esme and Carlisle, and Carlisle wanted him to find a mate. He thought perhaps I could be that for him." She scoffed again, rolled her eyes. "For all of Carlisle's extraordinary gifts, he's still a man. Like most men (sorry, Jasper), he was fooled by my pretty face, even as bloody and bruised as it was. He thought in time Edward would fall in love with it. But the two of us--"

Jasper and Alice grimaced in unison at the idea and Rosalie laughed. "Exactly. A more unlikely match doesn't exist. I've never met a more irritating person and I'm sure he would tell you the same. But then I found my Emmett." 

"Like Alice found me," Jasper murmured.

"Yes. Emmett transformed everything for me. His joy, his kindness, his passion-- for life, of course," she quirked her lips in a sly smile. The shadows and lights from the trees passed over Rosalie's face - she was more beautiful the more you got to know her, Alice realized. And that was saying something quite incredible indeed. "We've been happy, happier than I ever thought I could be. I hope you can find the same peace here."

They emerged from the trees into the clearing where their home stood. The sunlight glinted off Jasper and Rosalie's blonde heads and Alice's darker one. "Our eternities are only what we make of them," Alice said. "I hope we can _all_ be happy together, Rosalie. Truly."

Emmett barrelled around the side of the house, pulling a wheelbarrow piled with bayonets. He saw them and waved enthusiastically, gesturing to the bayonets and flashing them a thumbs-up sign. Rosalie laughed and shook her head in utter adoration. She turned back to Alice. "I hope so too. I'm willing to try." She extended her hand and they shook. 

Alice had seen a glimpse of Rosalie and Emmett's next wedding on their walk through the woods. She would be maid of honor and Rosalie would finally take her advice on wedding dresses and cut her train down to a mere six feet. _Brilliant!_ Rosalie squeezed her hand as she let go and Alice grinned. It wasn't quite what she had imagined, but it was close enough.

"I will do whatever I can to protect this family, Rosalie. All of them," Jasper vowed. Her palm was surprisingly warm and soft in his as they shook, even as the look in her eyes was cold and determined. 

Part of Rosalie had been reborn when Carlisle turned her, when he stole that final choice from her. And that part was as hard and unforgiving as the world of hurt she and Jasper toted in their silences and their scars, in all the brutal, ugly images they could never forget. 

"We will have to fight one day," Rosalie warned them. "The Volturi, when they see the powers you have, Alice, they'll be interested. And nervous, now that Carlisle has gathered so many powerful vampires around himself. Aro thought Carlisle was too peaceful to be a real rival to him, but as our numbers have grown, he'll have to take the matter under consideration."

Alice nodded. "Carlisle has told us as much. I keep an eye on them, Rosalie, as much as I can. I'll be ready when they come. No force could ever compel me to leave."

"One day they might try to come for all of us, split us apart and force you and Edward to join them. It would break Emmett and Esme's hearts and I cannot have that," Rosalie said darkly. "So if the two of you fight for us, I fight beside you. Always."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Rant: I finished "Midnight Sun" last month and it truly drives me crazy the way Stephenie Meyer writes Rosalie. I love a good bitchy character (to paraphrase Blanche Deveraux, "Bitchiness is part of my heritage") and I don't even mind if Rosalie dislikes Bella for conflict purposes, but it's like Meyer is incapable of giving Rosalie a single positive trait! She's superficial, vain, jealous, and petty from beginning to end and it's gross. Also if Rosalie were as insufferable as Meyer portrays her to be, I cannot imagine the Cullens putting up with her for decades. 
> 
> This was my first attempt at writing a story with Rosalie as a main character, so please let me know if you think I did justice to her. Also, sexual violence is a very real issue and I hate stories that use it as a plot device, but it's impossible to deal with Rosalie's past as depicted in canon without touching on it. I tried to handle it as sensitively as possible. There are SO many fanfics here that do a much better job with Rosalie than Meyer did, which is one of the hundreds of reasons I love this little community. Thanks for reading.


	4. Love in the Night Museum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasper gives Alice and the family a thank you gesture. (Smuttiness eventually ensues.)

Jasper had always been strong. He could keep with his older brother and all his friends; he wasn't reckless but he never backed down from a dare or a fight. He pushed himself to succeed in the Confederate Army and then, after his rebirth, in Maria's, as horrible as both those endeavors turned out to be. He had never failed at anything.

But now, in this settled life, it happened over and over, despite his best attempts. And even his successful days were never due solely to his own efforts. They required Alice constantly spot-checking his future, Edward listening extra close to the thoughts of people around them, and Emmett playing bodyguard when he was overcome by his thirst. None of them complained, but Jasper was always aware of the burden he placed on them. It nagged at him like a rock in his shoe.

But so much worse than the good days were the times he slipped. Twice in 1951. Three times in 1952, though to be fair two of those were an elderly couple he stumbled upon on a logging trail deep in the woods. They had been badly injured in a car accident and the interior of their car was covered in blood. That "slip" they managed to cover up without too much trouble, dragging the car deeper into the woods where they wouldn't be found for decades. It was cruel to do to the couple's family, but by the time they were found, the flesh would have rotted from their bones and it would appear they died in the accident.

That cover-up had been Alice's idea. He hated that he made her think of things like disposal methods, that she was stuck cleaning up his messes because he had a hair trigger and could still smell blood welling from a fresh cut a mile away. If she saw something bad, something Edward and Emmett couldn't keep him back from, she would insist they both stay home. The others brought them their schoolwork and they completed it diligently. Since they were the only two who hadn't matriculated from high school multiple times, it was relatively fresh to them. 

They skipped school as much as they attended in the beginning and Carlisle had to tell their high school they had been affected by the polio outbreak. It was a good excuse, but it also meant they had to appear weak in class sometimes. Alice enjoyed the opportunity to act; she dramatically collapsed whenever they needed to make a quick getaway. But to Jasper, this act was only a manifestation of the way he saw himself. Weak and damaged.

At the start, Carlisle encouraged him to hunt as much as he could, telling him that the temptations of human blood would be easier to resist if he could keep himself sated. The smell and taste of animals still repulsed him, but he enjoyed the fresh air and the exercise that hunting provided. It was something he and Emmett often did together. Their friendship had grown since their arrival in the Cullen house; Emmett even offered advice sometimes, in his typical blunt way, on getting along with humans. 

In spring 1953, they were returning from a hunt. Jasper was trying to pull himself out of his funk before Alice saw him. When he got like this, she would pirouette around him, tease him until he couldn't help but laugh. She always lifted his spirits, but no matter what she said, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was a burden to make her perform this way. He should be the kind of person who was always pleasant to be around, like Emmett. He glanced above him, watching Emmett swinging from branch to branch in the trees like Tarzan in those ridiculous serials. 

Emmett dropped abruptly to the ground in front of him. "You know what Rosalie taught me?"

Jasper grimaced. "Emmett, you do know she's supposed to be my _sister."_

"Ha! Not that. Look," he moved to flip Jasper over and they engaged in a brief skirmish, rolling and throwing and finally digging into the earth until they had piled up mounds of dirt behind their heels. Emmett was strong enough to keep Jasper's fighting skills honed and on days like today, when he was distracted by other thoughts, Emmett occasionally won. 

"As the stronger one, I'll share some advice," Emmett told him in a lofty voice, leaping out of the hole they had created with his arms above his head. He spun around like the heavyweight champion of the world.

"I believe our record still stands at 315 to 201, in my favor," Jasper said as he dusted off his hands and swung himself out as well. He began kicking the dirt back into the hole - Carlisle insisted on practicing appropriate forest management guidelines. 

"Yes, but I won today. Now, my one word of advice, Jasper: gestures." Emmett nodded and raised his eyebrows at the same time in an attempt to convey the significance of this advice. He came over to join Jasper, quickly pushing in the rest of the dirt and stomping it down.

Jasper stared at him for a minute before responding, "What?"

"Gestures! Gestures!" he waved his arms.

"Yes, I heard you, but what does that mean? Gestures?"

"That's what women like. Gestures! It's not even the gifts so much, it's just-- the gesture." 

Jasper was trying to resist the urge to literally scratch his head when he heard a quiet chuckle coming from someone approaching on the path that led to their home. 

"Emmett, if you've finished re-filling that hole, I believe Esme is waiting for you to help her finish measuring for the skylight," Carlisle called and Emmett smacked his hand to his forehead and began running back to the house. He turned around and pointed at Jasper as he run, calling one final piece of advice. What else could it be but--

"Gestures!"

Jasper stood up and began to walk back to the house, shaking his head as he turned that word (basically meaningless now since he had heard it so many times) over in his mind. He was taken aback when Carlisle continued to approach, then turned to walk back beside him. 

"His explanation was perhaps a bit lacking, but his idea is sound," Carlisle commented after a minute, a wry smile playing across his normally placid features.

"Oh?" Jasper responded tentatively. He still wasn't sure exactly what to make of Carlisle. Physically, they were close in age, but Carlisle exuded such an enlightened air that it made him seem much older. Sometimes Jasper felt like a particularly disappointing apostle when he was in the man's company. Added to that, Carlisle was always kind to him, even when Jasper slipped. He would have preferred a leader who dealt with him more harshly, but as Carlisle had told him in the beginning, the way he punished himself was worse than anything the tenderhearted doctor could mete out.

"Often, when I am preoccupied with self-recrimination, thoughts of how I have failed in some way, I find I lose sight of the blessings I have been given," Carlisle said.

Jasper privately wondered what Carlisle could possibly know of failure, but the man continued.

"On those occasions, it's helpful to reach out and give something of yourself to someone else. Organize some sort of special gesture for people who have supported you. That is, Jasper," he turned to face him as they came into the clearing where the house stood, "doing good for others is the best medicine. Why don't you try to come up something special you could do for Alice, as a thank you? I know she's difficult to surprise, but consider the idea."

Jasper nodded and thanked him. No doubt Alice had seen this entire conversation anyway, so surprises were definitely out of the question. 

Two days later, Esme was tearing through one of her new art magazines. The household received magazines on a wide variety of topics and clipped the most useful or well-written articles for their household archive. Esme, on her own, subscribed to every art, design, photography, and household management magazine possible. Alice would flip through the art ones sometimes, but, "It's so hard to tell from pictures! Clothes you really have to see in person. I can't get a proper feel for the fabric from some illustration."

"Oh, this exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art looks just up your alley, Alice. Textiles of the World, 1500-1800," Esme read aloud. 

Alice and Jasper were sitting at the kitchen table, racing through their readings for their introductory college literature class. Alice usually won when it came to reading speed and when her head jerked up, Jasper smiled to himself and bent lower, quickly scanning the pages of _Paradise Lost_ in an attempt to catch up with her. He only half-listened to their conversation until he remembered Emmett and Carlisle's advice.

"Oh, Chinese silks and Mexican embroidery and hand-painted Indian cottons," Alice sighed. "They must be absolutely divine. I can't believe they only include one picture in this chintzy little magazine!"

"We can order the catalog for the exhibit," Esme reassured her. "It is lovely work though. I wish we could... Well, when you're all older and not in school, and Carlisle's off work," she said, smiling at Jasper. He hadn't realized he had looked up from his book to watch her and Alice as they stood at the counter, bent over the magazine. 

He nodded and smiled back, returning to his book. Granted, they had eternity and there was no rush, but what was the point of forever if you never enjoyed today?

Carlisle had provided the five of them with $500 of seed money a piece when Alice started playing the stocks. It had evolved into a friendly competition, though everyone expected--correctly-- that Alice would leave the rest of them in her small shadow.

Edward, always the idealist, put all his money into companies developing solar energy. Emmett bet on whatever his interest of the week was - the last Jasper recalled was children's toys, some company marketing pins and plastic parts children were supposed to use to make a potato man, of all the bizarre things. (Why on earth would anyone want to play with a potato?) Rosalie was surprisingly frugal and still had most of her nest egg. She preferred to support women-owned companies and there weren't very many of those yet. Jasper studied the business pages daily and turned out to be the second highest earner, even without any help from Alice. (Granted it was a distant second, since Alice made enough money to rival the GDP of small countries.) 

He enjoyed the challenge of it, and more than that, he liked having his own funds, being able to contribute to the family in some small way. And since it was all his money, he figured even if his idea wasn't a success, there wouldn't be any harm done. 

He surprised them all with the news on Thursday morning as they prepared to leave the house. "I thought we could take a trip this weekend," he declared, holding out Esme's art magazine, open to the article describing the new textile exhibit in New York City.

Everyone but Alice glanced at him in surprise - Jasper was not one for public declarations of any kind. 

Just then, she darted around Rosalie until she was standing next to him, tilting her head and sighing happily as she stared at the illustration of a hand-painted Indian bedcover, depicting a beautiful Tree of Life surrounded by elaborate flowers. The same one she had mooned over with Esme days before.

"I rented out the Metropolitan Museum of Art for Saturday night. There will be some guards there, for security, but we will have exclusive use of the museum from 8pm to 11pm. I thought perhaps we could determine the weak aspects of their security system, and sneak back in after we leave, if there are exhibits we still wish to see." The gift was for his whole family, but he couldn't tear his eyes from Alice's face, the joy in her eyes as she looked from the magazine to him. 

"Oh, Jasper! What a wonderful idea." Esme wrapped her arms around him in a light embrace, and Jasper patted her back. Aside from Alice, she would probably enjoy the trip the most, which pleased him. 

"That must have cost you all your savings," Emmett commented, reaching out his arm for the magazine. He and Rosalie flipped through it, examining the pictures with curiosity.

Rosalie glanced at Jasper and smiled. "There's no point in making money if you can't do what you want with it."

"Indeed," Carlisle commented. He gave Jasper a nod that seemed almost-- proud? "It will be a memorable experience."

The museum turned out to be bigger than Rosalie or Emmett anticipated, and they quickly disappeared. Emmett enjoyed racing through marble hallways as much as the exhibits. Luckily they could move fast enough that the family was saved from being kicked out by the guards. Alice and Esme made their way directly to the textile exhibit and even from a floor and two wings away, Jasper could hear their delighted laughter and squealing as they inspected the different items. 

Jasper wandered alone through the second floor galleries. He found Carlisle in the European Wing, searching the Old Master's paintings for faces and locations he remembered from his past. He had paused in front of a depiction of a public square somewhere in Europe - Jasper didn't know enough to say exactly where it was. The artist's focus had been primarily on the architecture, but he had depicted the square as filled with groups of people in colorful clothes, standing together under a blue sky.

"Piazza San Marco," Carlisle said as he turned to Jasper. "I used to worship in St. Mark's Basilica, that building there. Aro always found it quite humorous, that I persisted in my human ideas of religion. We'll have to go there some day, so you and Alice can see it for yourselves." He turned to Jasper with that complete acceptance that always baffled him. 

"I suppose we'll have to sneak back in later tonight, so we can look more at the exhibits. I can't imagine Alice or Esme will be done by then," Jasper said.

"Oh, I'm sure Esme will have fifty new ideas for redecorating the house by the time they're done," Carlisle said softly, with love in his voice. "But I do hope you're enjoying yourself as well. This was quite a fine gesture, to use Emmett's term."

Jasper looked from the painting back to him, his face carefully blank. Carlisle smiled again, a little sadly. "You're still suspicious of kindness."

"Not suspicious," Jasper tried to explain, rubbing the back of his neck. One of his old human gestures he could never quite leave behind. "I know what a burden I have been at times, given the value you place on human life. Alice's gifts provide you a great deal of protection and mine have their uses as well. I realize that makes us advantageous to you as members of your group, but I can't help but wonder if you regret allowing us to stay with you."

"Jasper, as long as you wish to stay with us and try to follow our ways, that will always be enough to satisfy."

"But my failures--"

"We knew the possibilities of that from the beginning. I learned a very long time ago," Carlisle said gently, "that you have to meet people where they are, rather than where you might hope they could be. I have many friends, people I have known for centuries, who survive by feeding exclusively on humans. My way of living is unfathomable to them, as much as theirs is impossible for me to follow. Still, I do not condemn them, nor they me. Why would I treat you, my dear friend, more harshly than I do them?"

"Thank you," Jasper said after a moment, looking back at the painting. He reached out his hand, placed it on Carlisle's shoulder for a moment. "You are my friend as well, Carlisle. Is this in Volterra then?"

"No, no, Venice. Not far for our kind to travel. The Dutch masters were always my favorites, but the Italians certainly have their merits."

The more Jasper saw, the more he realized he had to learn about the world. He thanked Carlisle again, then moved to the American Wing. He paused in the first room, studying a statue of Abraham Lincoln cast in 1911. He had been raised to hate the man, of course. His father would have choked to see his son standing here, admiring the finely wrought details of his features. 

Jasper laughed to himself - if his father had known his son would be standing in a New York City museum in 1953, it would like to have killed the old man. 

"He wouldn't be pleased?" Edward's voice came from the next room and Jasper shook his head at himself. 

"I don't think he could have understood it. Or me, like this." Jasper moved to the enormous painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware. Even this was younger than him, he mused as he read 1851 on the placard. "Strange, isn't it, to see these things here. We may well come back in 50 years and they'll be hanging here still. And we will be as unchanged as them, if not more so. Colors fade, statues can be chipped or damaged. We endure."

"I like it," Edward mused, his voice closer and then farther away as he wandered through the adjoining room. "It gives me a sense of hope, places like this. That people are driven to create such magnificent things, yes, but also that others care enough to preserve and restore them. Though it's hard to believe that the same creatures who could commit such atrocities in the world can also manifest such brilliance." 

Jasper smiled at Edward's thoughts. Sometimes their minds fell along the same lines. Edward hadn't seen the ugliest things in the world in person the way he had, but he had heard much more than his share in people's thoughts. Art was a necessity, to restore himself.

"Yes." Edward's voice came again, in response to his last thought. "Jasper, I wondered if I could tell you something." 

"Of course," Jasper walked to the next room but found it empty. Edward had advanced again to another room. He frowned and started to follow him.

"Please, Jasper. It'll be easier to say if I can keep a room between us." Edward sounded annoyed as he muttered, so softly even Jasper had to strain to hear him, "I can't believe Alice convinced me to do this."

"To do what?" Jasper was staring at a Tiffany glass window, wondering what Alice could possibly need Edward to tell him. There were usually no secrets between the two of them. 

"It's not a secret," Edward reassured him. "I'm sure it's things she's told you herself. It's merely..." He sighed again, then appeared to steel himself and began speaking quietly but at a fast clip. "I can visualize people's thoughts - see what they see in their mind, especially if it's something vivid. But if it's something more than that, a thought or an idea that they've longed for, the word itself will have a color and a scent or a flavor to it. I don't know if I'm explaining it properly. I noticed this the first time when I encountered someone who had been released from prison after a long sentence. 

"The idea of Freedom, when he thought about it in his mind, was the color of the ocean and smelled like salt water. The way the sea air bites at the back of your throat. I could smell it and feel it, merely from hearing him think the word."

A guard passed by and they wanted interminably long moments for him to move on before Edward began speaking again. Jasper had moved on to a portrait of a pale, thin woman in a black dress. He was shaken at how much it reminded him of Alice - the woman's skin was flawless enough to make him wonder if she had been one of them, and she wore her dress with such confidence and ease, just as she did.

Edward began again, "When Alice sees you, her mind turns luminous, so bright and full of emotion I have to work doubly hard to try and tune her out. When you're away from her, if she even thinks your name, it's surrounded by a halo of light and the memory of your smell floods her senses. She turns to her visions to find the moment when you return."

Jasper smiled to himself, trying to hold back the more intimate thoughts that came to mind so as not to make Edward more uncomfortable than he already was. His venom smelled of honey and fresh hay and Alice adored it. "You taste so sweet," she muttered occasionally, licking her lips greedily as she pulled away from his mouth. "Lucky you're not allergic," he always replied and she'd lean in for another kiss, sighing, "Vampires don't have allergies, silly."

"She always thinks about you first, before anyone, and it's not because she thinks you're weak and it's not a burden to her. She does it because she loves you the most. And it means the most to her to help you, to feel like she's doing something to make your life easier after all you've given to her." He paused and Jasper lifted his face to the high ceiling, feeling the electricity on his arms that meant she was near. "She wanted me to tell you all this-- so you could see yourself through her eyes. And now I leave you to her. Goodbye, Jasper." 

Edward's footsteps moved away, as he retreated into the back rooms of the wing. Jasper turned to his love, who had appeared soundlessly behind him, the biggest delighted grin on her face.

"This is the most wonderful gift, Major. Thank you. I love it here, it's so beautiful." She danced around him until he grabbed her up and pressed his forehead to hers. "And those fabrics downstairs, oh, you cannot even imagine how inspired I feel! It's--" 

She cut off as he kissed her, the fresh lemon taste of her venom flooding his senses again as he sucked her tiny tongue into his mouth. He slid one arm around her waist. Her ribs were right there under her skin, so delicate against his hand, as though he could crush her with a snap of his fingers. And yet, she was strong enough to bear more than the rest of them, to carry the possibilities of all their futures in their mind. The present swirled around her while the future sparked to life between these narrow bones.

"You should ask Edward how I see you. Perhaps he can put it more poetically than I do," he whispered when they finally stopped kissing.

"I already did," she reassured him with a grin. "Of course, I think he edited it some, but I got the big images."

"This trip was supposed to be a present for you," he said, in what was supposed to be an exasperated tone of voice, but came out suffused with nothing but passion. 

"It was!" Alice grinned at him again and fluttered her dark eyelashes. "And I wanted to give you something too, so I did. Now say thank you and kiss me again."

"I exist to obey, ma'am. Thank you." He tilted her until she was off the ground, the bottom of her high heels pointed at the wall behind him. Then he kissed her until her venom flowed into his mouth and her nails sank into the back of his neck and she bit his lips and then licked her teeth marks, the mild pain and the burning pleasure repeated over and over, until his knees went so wobbly that they sank to the ground and then it was just a matter of her saying, "Oh, the floor is _dirty_ ," in her softest little whine, and he had to flip over so he could hold her in his lap, didn't he, that was only being a gentleman, and how did he know she was going to slide her hot little hands against him, her pale white throat full of quaking gasps under his lips, as though her busy fingers pleased her as much as they did him. 

She was already aroused when he slipped his hand under her skirt, shoving her panties to one side, and the soft wet sounds of his fingers slipping inside her filled the empty room. He was surprised to realize they were still mostly dressed, clothes pulled down or up or shucked to the side, and she put his hand on her chest and his large fingers fiddled their way past her shirt buttons to the thin strong skin of her chest, like silvered spun sugar. He knew she loved it when he talked, so he whispered every wicked word of praise, all his dark desires for possession against her skin until she was starved for him. 

(How many times had he loved her before he learned to do this? His feelings came so quick and all at once and he wanted to words to be the same, to say everything beautiful in her ear in every language at the same time.)

She moaned as she tugged at his pants and strained not to rip them, and when she finally lowered the fabric enough, she tortured him with lavishly gentle touches, her soft fingertips dancing a desperate sort of rapture along his aching flesh. They were watching each other's eyes, each pushing the other higher, breathless, waiting to see who would succumb first, until his low rasping voice finally broke, "so good, baby, feel how soft you are, I love you around my fingers -- fuck, fuck, stop for a minute," and she unclenched her thighs to release his hand and then slid her body even closer. 

So close that all the light he saw was the gleam of her teeth and her eyes. So close that every breath he breathed was her scent.

She had to open her legs as wide as she could to make room for him, and she always did it with her eyes on his face, soaking up the adoration painted into his features. There was something even more flagrantly erotic about it here, in this huge room filled with beautiful things, and her glistening flesh spread out, more precious and priceless to him than God's own heaven. "More," she moaned, working herself down, a dainty china teacup filled to the brim, one drip from overflowing. She arched her back and burned tight, tighter around him, coming so hard so fast that they instantly clasped their hands over the other's mouth to keep from screaming. Her spasms around his cock, the joy lighting through her body, brought on his own release, made it more intense and powerful, as she always did. Of course, it didn't help that she was throbbing softness around him, her hands on his face, his face against her throat as he lost himself inside her. 

In the next long moments, he sprawled out, trembling with her through every soft aftershock, wrapping her up close as her body still held fast around him. She declared her most recent possession with every squeeze of her muscles, while "mine, mine, my Jasper" was muttered against his chest. Finally she shuddered into stillness, her nails lined into the grooves of the scars on his back, and he went limp.

He could read her emotions, figure out what she was feeling, when to rush and where to sweetly linger, but he swore she had the same gift, the way she studied his body and his expressions. It felt like the two of them had done this over and over in different bodies and different places, even stranger ones than the floor of this museum. He wondered if there was any world where they had loved each other long enough. How many times one had wished for the other with their final breath.

They watched each other in silence now, cataloging the bite marks and the scratches, the almost-invisible remnants of venom on skin. She rubbed a bit off his mouth because she had the right to touch him however she pleased, and he skipped the lightest kisses down her pale throat, over the half-moon scar at the base of it, simply because he had the same rights to her. She raised their joined hands to her face, and he stroked his thumb around that flawless oval, her tender skin, her high forehead, her swollen, lushly curved mouth. 

"Have I ever told you how perfect this spot is?" he said, caressing the short groove between her nose and her upper lip.

"Not for at least three months," she giggled. "If we have a maker, they placed that spot there for you alone. My Jasper path, pointing you to this." He bent to kiss the spot on her lips she pointed to. She had one hand tangled in his hair and the other settled low on his hips, still holding him against her as they occasionally rocked their hips against each other, implacable as the ocean's waves. She loved these moments when they shared the same body, but they were still only a shadow of the closeness of their souls. 

"I love you," she whispered suddenly, the passion in her eyes turning solemn. "I know we're not the kind of couple that says it all the time. That's why I wanted Edward to tell you those things - so you can see how precious you are to me."

He grinned, rubbed his lips against the back of her ear, where her smell was the most intense. "How typical of you - I give you a little trip as a thank you and you give me the entire world, wrapped up in a little body as sweet as summer and irresistible as sin."

She pulled back from him, an inch that felt like a mile to both of them, and persisted. "Even if we don't say it, everyone knows. You of all people, you should feel what he told you. You should know how deep this goes - our love is what runs through the center of me."

"Alice, I do feel it, whenever I'm around you," he whispered, shaken. "In the beginning, yes, I doubted it. All the love inside you, I couldn't understand where it came from. But now it's only when we're apart that I start to doubt. When I remember how magic you are and wish I had something to offer you, something more than this." He gestured with one hand to himself, his mouth twisted sardonically 

"You are more than enough, Jasper," she brushed her hands over his chest, the scars reflecting all the lights set up around the expensive museum pieces. He was a symphony, a _David_ in her eyes - this warrior who was taming himself to live in peace beside her, so they could have a family. "I can't tell you how proud I am to walk into a room on your arm." She laughed a little. "So many people see us and wonder - your size compared to mine. How I seem abstract and strange and you're so strong and silent. They think it's the unlikeliest pairing, that we belong to each other, that we know each other so well. But they never doubt that we do."

"We do. It's the best thing that ever happened to me." He twisted her ring around her finger, once for every year he had loved her. If he continued for every year he would, he could wear ever her diamond-bone down to a fragment. "I love you. That's what marks my years now, the art and practice of loving you." 

He knew if he was cut apart, they would find concentric circles binding his cells, every one made up of her fingerprints, tiny renditions of her name in every known and forgotten tongue. 

She leaned into his mouth again and didn't stop kissing him until she heard the security guard's steps heading up toward the second floor.

He sat her up, keeping her in his lap so he could rebutton her black Dior bar jacket. She carefully smoothed his hair, repairing the damage from her hands. One of her stockings had come unclipped from her garters and torn itself beyond repair on Jasper's pants. She wriggled it off and stuffed it down the front of his trousers before refastening them, laughing, "Another gift for you."

"Another torture device," he groaned, eyeing her bare slim leg under her pretty dress. Jasper clasped her closer and effortlessly stood up with her in his arms. He placed her carefully back on the marble floor just as the security guard turned the corner into the room. "Should we go down and you can show me your favorite pieces?" he said, loud enough for the guard to hear.

"Well, my favorite work of art I've already visited," she mouthed to him behind her hand, hooking her other hand's finger in his hastily-rebuckled belt as he laughed. 

The poor man walked to the next room quickly, giving the eerie pair a wide berth, wondering why the grins on their peculiar, beautiful faces made him quake.

"But yes, we can go see my lesser favorites now."

"What Edward said, I think of you first too, before anyone else," he told her as they walked around the room one last time, arm in arm, as regal as if they hadn't fucked on this very floor. 

"I knew that," she sighed happily. Edward had told her that Jasper's love for her throbbed in his mind like a beating heart, ever-present no matter what his other thoughts were, steady and strong and unlike most hearts, endless. And as necessary to his survival as a heart would be, were they not as they were.

She bounced from foot to foot when he paused in front of a stained glass window, and he suddenly remembered-- 

"Damn, I forgot about him," Jasper sighed. "Edward didn't get stuck listening, did he?" 

She shook her head with a smile. "No, he snuck out a window ages ago. He's down in Harlem listening to jazz music on the roof of some club. He'll be back around 4am. He says the music doesn't get good til late anyway." She turned for one last glance at the room as they left. "We've thanked each other properly, haven't we?"

"More than," he told her as he followed her eyes to gaze at the pieces in the room. He already knew he would never see that portrait of the woman in black again without remembering Alice's taste, her skin, the feel of her softness against him, around him on the marble floor. 

As they walked down the grand main stairs to the textile exhibit on the lower floor, Emmett and Rosalie whooshed past them, far too fast for human eyes to see. As Rosalie disappeared up the stairs, Emmett paused for a second, bent low in case a security guard happened to come by. "Gestures," he declared again, raising his eyebrows and nodding significantly. "I told you, Jasper. It's all about the gestures!"

Jasper reflected on how right his brother had been. And how right _she_ was, he thought, glancing down at Alice's head as she began to explain in detail what pieces she was going to show him. 

She knew they would be happy here, with their family. And for whatever gift or gesture he offered them, they had given him a far greater treasure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historical notes: The original Mr. Potato Head toy, first distributed in 1952, consisted of plastic parts that children had to affix to an actual potato to make a potato man (actual potato not included). The plastic potato body wasn't introduced until 1964. 
> 
> The exhibit they go to see was based on Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800, which was on display at the Met in 2013. I tried to find one accurate to the period to use, but it's hard to find detailed information about exhibits in the 1950s (shocking). 
> 
> The artwork described in this chapter is all on display at the Met, though I admit I don't know if they were there in the 1950s or not. 
> 
> If you're curious:  
> Piazza San Marco, Canaletto - https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435839  
> Abraham Lincoln, The Man (Standing Lincoln), by Augustus Saint-Gaudens - https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/21185  
> Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze - https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11417  
> Autumn Landscape by Tiffany Studios (1923-24) - https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/282  
> Portrait of Madame X, John Singer Sargent - https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/12127


End file.
